Pocket with recessed internal zipper

ABSTRACT

A garment, such as a pair of jeans, is made of a component with an outer surface and a pocket panel attached to the component to form a zipper. The zipper is recessed from an edge of the pocket to form a hidden means of dosing the pocket.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A. Field of Invention

This invention pertains to a garment such as a pair of pants with atleast one pocket protected by a zipper. Importantly the zipper is spacedaway from the pocket edge or recessed so that it is not visible.

BACKGROUND

Pockets with zippers are well known in the art of fashion and garmentdesign. The zipper may have two functions: it may be viewed asinteresting and unusual design feature on a garment and/or can be usedas a means to protect the contents of the pocket. One problem with thesekinds of pockets is that the zipper is very clearly visible to apotential pickpocket and can be easily opened without the knowledge ofthe garment wearer. This is especially true if the pocket is a backpocket on pants.

A further problem with existing pockets with zippers is that the waysuch pockets are constructed results in several layers of materials atone or both sides of the zipper forming a visible line that isesthetically objectionable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventor has invented a configuration for a garment thatincludes a pocket with a recessed zipper that may be virtually invisible(especially when the wearer uses the pocket to store only a few,relatively flat objects). However there is a portion of the pocketextends above the zipper closing the pocket so that a pickpocket has toreach into the pocket before he realizes that there is a zipperprotecting it. The configuration presented herein is particularlysuitable to jeans that have a 2-4 inch strip at the top because thezipper can be attached at the seam below this strip.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a somewhat orthogonal sectional internal view of a portionof a garment with a recessed zipper constructed in accordance with thisinvention;

FIG. 2 shows a side sectional of the garment portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an orthogonal view of the pocket panel being attached tothe garment component of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 shows a side sectional view of the pocket panel being attached tothe garment component of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 shows an orthogonal view of the garment with the outer pockethaving the recessed zipper; and

FIG. 6 shows a side sectional view of the garment component with theoutside pocket and a recessed zipper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As previously mentioned, the present invention is particularly useful ona pair of jeans. Fig, 1 shows a partial view of a pair of jeans 10,formed of at least two components: a main panel 12 and an upper strip14. A zipper 16 is also provided having two generally horizontal tapes16A, 16B that are selectively joined by a handle 16C in a conventionalmanner.

These three components are assembled as follows. First the upper tape16C is sewn to the lower edge of upper strip 14. The upper strip 14 isthen joined to the main panel 12 by a double sewing line 18. As can beseen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lower tape 16A hangs free and is not yetattached to anything.

Next, a small pocket panel 20 is first sewn to the tape 16A. Forexample, the pocket panel 20 is folded in two with a smaller portion 20Abeing disposed under the larger portion 20B. The panel 20 is then placedon top of the zipper 16 and tape 16A is folded over the portion 20A asseen in FIGS. 3 and 4. The portion 20A is then sewn to tape 16A using asewing line 22.

The portion 20B is folded back so that portions 20A and 20B aregenerally coplanar. Next, pocket panel 20 is sewn to main panel 12 andstrip 14 leaving a top edge 24 unattached. In this manner the pocketpanel 20 forms a pocket 26 on garment 10 with an opening 28 between edge24 and strip 12. The zipper 16 is disposed below edge 24 by about ½ to1½ in and provides a closing means for the pocket 26. Additional abutton 30 may be provided as a further means of closing the pocket 26.

Preferably the garment 10 or at least pocket panel 20 is made of asomewhat elastic material. Therefore when the pocket is empty orcontains only one or more small flat items, such as money or a passport,the pocket 26 stretches over the main panel 12 and remains flat so thatthe zipper is oriented v c x erticafly and is essentially invisible. Ifa larger object 32 such as a wallet is placed in the pocket 26, thepocket will bulge out slightly as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6. Access to thepocket interior is allowed only if the zipper 16 (and button 30 ifprovided) are opened.

Numerous modifications may be made to this invention without departingfrom its scope as set forth in the appended claims.

1. A garment comprising: a component forming a side of the garment andhaving an outer surface; a pocket panel including at least one side edgeattached to the component to form a pocket for the garment and anunattached edge forming an opening between the pocket panel and thecomponent for accessing the pocket; and a zipper formed of a firstzipper tape, a second zipper tape and a handle arranged to selectivelyjoin said first and said second zipper tapes together, wherein saidfirst zipper tape is attached to said to said pocket panel at apredetermined distance from said unattached edge and wherein said secondzipper tape is attached to said component.
 2. The garment of claim 1wherein said component includes a main panel with a main panel edge anda strip having a strip edge continuously joined to said main panel edgeby a sawing line, said second zipper tape being joint to said componentalong said sewing line.
 3. The garment of claim 1 wherein said garmentis a pair of jeans.
 4. The garment of claim 1 wherein said zipper isrecessed from said unattached edge.
 5. The garment of claim 1 whereinsaid unattached edge extends generally horizontally and said zipper isdisposed horizontally below said unattached edge.
 6. A pair of jeanscomprising: a component formed with an outer surface; a pocket panelincluding at least one side edge attached to the component to form apocket for the garment and an unattached edge forming a generallyhorizontal opening between the pocket panel and the component foraccessing the pocket; and a zipper formed of a first zipper tape, asecond zipper tape and a handle arranged to selectively join said firstand said second zipper tapes together, wherein said first zipper tape isattached to said to said pocket panel at a predetermined distance fromsaid unattached edge and wherein said second zipper tape is attached tosaid component.
 7. The garment of claim 6 wherein said componentincludes a main panel with a main panel edge and a strip having a stripedge continuously joined to said panel edge by a sewing line, saidsecond zipper tape being joint to said component along said sewing line.8. The garment of claim 6 wherein said zipper is recessed from saidunattached edge.
 9. The garment of claim 6 further including a secondclosing member for selectively closing the pocket opening.
 10. Thegarment of claim 9 wherein the second closing member includes a button.